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Ying-ch'uan in Anhui, who rose under the Emperor Wên Ti of the Han dynasty to be chief tutor to the Heir Apparent, in which capacity he gained for himself the sobriquet of 智囊 the Wisdom-Bag. Upon the accession of his young master as the Emperor Ching Ti, he was made a Privy Councillor, and proceeded to advise the new monarch to get rid of the feudal Princes, whose animosities and treacheries threatened the stability of the empire. Ch'ao Ts'o's father, hearing of this, hurried up from Ying-ch'uan to the capital, and begged his son to withdraw from such a dangerous enterprise. Ch'ao Ts'o explained that his measure was intended to secure peace for the House of Liu; to which his father replied that it would secure anything but peace for the House of Ch'ao. And as the old man felt unable to face the coming crisis, he took poison and died. Ten days later, seven of the feudal States revolted; and as Tou Ying, secretly backed by Yüan Yang, laid the whole blame upon Ch'ao Ts'o and his unpopular measures, the Emperor gave orders for the latter to be dressed in full official robes and thus to be led forth to execution.

205Ch'ao Tuan-yen 晁端彥 (T. 叔美). Born A.D. 1035. The descendant of a long line of statesmen and writers, and father of Ch'ao Pu-chih. He was born on the same day as Chang Tun; their names were published as graduates on the same list, and they both received their appointments at the same time. Hence they came to be called the 三同 Three Sames. Later on, the political conduct of Chang Tun was such that Ch'ao was forced to impeach him. "We are no longer the Three Sames," he said, "but rather the Hundred Differents." He gained some reputation as a poet, and rose to be sub-Librarian in the Imperial Library.